A journey unfold !

There goes one of the most exciting train journey I can ever imagine in all these years, after postponing at many occasions and some drop out plans, finally I am able to complete the much awaited trip to west coast of India. It was my sheer luck or you can say coincidence that when I thought of booking the return tickets; I landed at the Indian Railways website to surprise myself that reservation for the newly started train between MAQ-YPR was available for that day. And then I quickly hit the button to book my tickets in it. However, I didn't mind being forced to travel at night sacrificing the sparkling views of the green route (Western Ghats) which would only possible in daylight.

Mangalore Station, MAQ- YPR express standing on PF1.

I was at Mangalore for the first time and it was overall an eventful trip with lots of memory from the konkan railways. The station at Managlore is going through renovation and you can spot loads of construction material here and there. To avoid last minute rush I was there at the platform before time. The interesting things that somebody would notice as soon as the train leaves Mangalore Station (after the Junction between the KR and enroute to SWR ) is the bridge over Netravathi River. The train hits Subrahmanya Rd Station around 10 P.M and snakes through Sakaleshpura somewhere 11.55 PM, and believe me these two hours in the dark night will show you the amazing experience of – the Man, Machine and Nature.

The best part is that you will get more than one chance to explore different types and size of tunnels on the way. Surprisingly, there are around 57 tunnels in between Subrahmanya Rd. and Sakaleshpura, which covers the major part of the Western Ghats. I was not aware of this number until I calculated it all by myself; it was really fun. This 70 K.Ms plus stretch offers the most pleasant and breathtaking scenic view to all those travel bugs.

One of the many tunnels that this train passes by ...
Another tunnel at the night, witnessing the kingdom of darkness ....

In the end, It was an unbelievable experience of traveling for me. The scary noisy sounds that comes from the train wheels when it takes a turn on the curved track, the long-dark tunnels, the night-blue sky and the depth of the mountains under the tracks is really something that one should watch out for.